Apistogramma agassizii agression

[Duffmanj]

Ok thanks for the info ☺ what type do you have, are you able to post a pic of them? I'd be tempted to leave the tank lights off for a while and run an airstone, see if there's any effect. What temp do you have it at the moment?

 

[Josie*]

Temp is at 26, they are apistogramma agassizii double red, here they are,

 

[Duffmanj]

How are they getting on now?

 

[Josie*]

Well a bit strange really... She ate for the first time the other day, she went mad for bloodworms as soon as they hit the water. The next morning when I fed her I expected her to be the same, but there was no interest again... Last night small amount of interest in bloodworms. I know you aren't supposed to feed them bloodworms too much because of constipation, but its the only thing she will show any interest at all.

I've set up a little tank and I'm going to try and culture daphnia, they are arriving tomorrow so I will try her with some of that.

I just hope she lives still flashing, waiting for wormer to arrive.

 

[Duffmanj]

Sounds very much like bloat to me, I have to admit that I don't feed bloodworm at all any more because of that risk. Try and see if you can get hold of some other live food, daphnia as mentioned but also baby brine shrimp and my apistos current favourite, mosquito larvae (sometimes also called glass worms). Most fish shops will sell some kind of live (or even frozen) food similar to those. Just on the daphnia, I've tried culturing them inside and not really had much luck, not sure what your set up is but I would recommend having them outside for sure.

 

[Josie*]

So I have the tank sort of how I want it, still waiting for the extra twiggy driftwood I ordered to arrive. I've dosed the tank with kusuri wormer and the flashing seems to have stopped, haven't seen her do it since I dosed. I've added the male back in, and they are really looking promising, following each other around, and she definitely seems to be looking for somewhere to set up shop. I've noticed her mouth is lopsided. She doesn't like to eat food that's in the water, and won't touch the live daphnia. She looks like she's about to go for it, then backs off.

and I'm wondering if this is why? And why she would only eat bloodworms from the bottom? Maybe she just can't catch the smaller food, and its easier for her to pick food from the ground.

 

[Duffmanj]

Its looking really good! That might be the case, i imagine it might cause her some problems. Does it look like it might be from fighting or do you think it was like that when you got her? You've probably grown attached to her, but don't discount the option of taking her back to the LFS. Sorry, might sound like a bit of a weird thing to say but I've had a similar experience with receiving fish I wasn't happy with.

 

[Josie*]

It looks like a definite deformity. There's no sign of damage, just lopsided. Its hard to describe, it looks a little bit like someone who's had a severe stroke, but one side sort of looks joined up, and facing to the side instead of straight ahead. I could definitely see how it could cause problems eating.

I've thought about that, the only problem is I have a really good relationship with the shop, I get a few freebies and go there a lot, so I don't really want to jeopardise that if you know what I mean. I would rather just keep her separately in one of the other tanks and get another female if this doesn't work out. I'm hoping it will, I'm going to try a few different foods and see which she can take easiest.

 

[Duffmanj]

Yeah I know what you mean, I have the same with my local. Your choice of course! Bear in mind that some apistos will only choose mates that they recognise as being the same, be that a particular colour morph or whatever. I think that's the case for wild caught anyway, not sure about tank bred!

 

[Josie*]

Yes I've read that, last night their behaviour definitely looked promising, now I think my issue is getting the female to eat... She for some reason only comes out on the after noon/night like as if she's nocturnal. she spent all night squeezing herself into little places, trying it out and then looking for somewhere else. They seem really intelligent, the way the look at things and they really seem to think about things!

Unfortunately, I haven't the patience I have have been feeding them my daphnia culture :/ there's still all the little ones and quite a few of the big ones so hopefully I still have a chance! Will just have to buy more....

 

[rr16]

I've had females that hide in the leaf litter a high percentage of the time (and disappear for days on end when they have eggs and fry!). Have you put any other fish in yet? If not it may be that some dither fish will give her the queue that the coast is clear and there are no predators around and it's safe to come out. They may not, but it's probably worth a try. Also, lots of apistos route around in the substrate for food, spitting the sand out through their gills so it may be that this is her preferred method of eating. Again, maybe not the case, but just some thoughts. Good luck

 

[Josie*]

Yes, there's a nice group of pencil fish in In with them who are busy spawning at the minute.

I think she definitely prefers to forage for food in the sand. The problem is the pencils are such pigs they get there first!

I'm really hoping this is it this time, things are looking much more promising